Every schoolchild has heard the story of the railroads race to complete a coasttocoast rail network and of the vital role the network played in opening and developing the West. Although transcontinental railroads had been proposed as early as the 1830s. it was not until President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 that the necessary impetus was supplied by Federal subsidies. The Union Pacific Company formed under terms of this law. started laying rails westward from Omaha. utilizing a labor force which eventually totaled some 12.000 men. mostly Irish immigrants. Similarly. Central Pacific began its eastbound leg in Sacramento. utilizing some 11.000 imported Chinese workers.
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immigrants